Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Has $40.19 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 211,036 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 671 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.5% of Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $40,190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,394,181,000 after buying an additional 51,226 shares during the period. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 344 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Wallington Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC now owns 83,004 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,877,000 after acquiring an additional 4,312 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 8,785 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Counsel Inc boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 111,826 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $18,696,000 after purchasing an additional 6,549 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOG. UBS Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 134,299 shares of company stock worth $25,055,751. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $181.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $194.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.22. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.55 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.